NFT gaming is something that started as a niche but is slowly becoming integrated into the mainstream industry as we speak. After all, the idea of play-to-earn gaming is a great one since it allows people to have fun with video games while also making money on the side.
Naturally, the first thing we get to see in NFT gaming is not originality, but rather a blockchain-based version of existing video games that we all know and love. They are, of course, different enough to avoid lawsuits. But ultimately, the first thing that you think of when you see them is that you’ve already seen them before.
One of the most successful games on the planet is none other than Minecraft and one thing that gamers always dreamt of was the ability to own and sell the land that they work so hard on in the game. As ridiculous as that dream sounded, it’s not far from reality in the world of NFT gaming.
The Sandbox is a sandbox virtual world in which players take the role of an apprentice of a deity, and thus they are given the ability to craft their own world as they see fit. This is done with the use of natural resources such as land, water, lava, sand, glass, and more – with technology being available too for machinery and such.
If you thought that sounded familiar, you’d be right. Because this game is very similar to Minecraft, although distinctive enough to exist alongside it. But of course, the major difference here is that this game is play-to-earn and contains the use of NFTs. So, how does all of this work? Let’s go through the basics and understand what is the Sandbox.
The Three-Tier Ecosystem
The Sandbox provides gamers with three integrated tools that allow them to generate in-game content. The first of these tools is the Voxel Editor, which has easy visual tools that can be used to create voxel models, rig them, and animate them.
The second of these tools is the Game Maker, which can be used to build, share, and monetize individual games on a 3D platform – similar to Roblox. Finally, the third tool is the Marketplace in which players can trade in-game assets that are tokenized through blockchain.
Play-To-Earn
These tools are all fairly standard, so how do they allow players to earn money? Let’s go over a brief explanation of how that becomes possible.
VoxEdit
The first step is to create assets.
VoxEdit allows players to create, model, and animate 3D objects. These objects can be anything, such as land, vehicles, machinery, humans, and so on. Once the player creates them, they are immediately turned into an NFT and become game assets that each player individually owns.
By this point, the player walks away with items that they own and they have non-fungible tokens attached to them, so the player is free to do with them as they please.
Marketplace
The Sandbox has an NFT marketplace where users can upload, publish, and trade their NFT creations for free. Since the assets belong to the players, they are free to sell them however they like and earn real-world money with it.
So, any models or items that you create in VoxEdit can be sold in the Marketplace for real money.
Game Maker
The Game Maker allows players to build and publish games that they create. It requires no coding and has visual tools that anyone can learn – and then the player is free to monetize the games that they make too. It’s very similar to how making and publishing games on Roblox works since those too can be monetized.
The Sandbox Metaverse
Aside from the tools, the virtual world of The Sandbox has a lot of different ways in which players can participate in blockchain-based activities.
The game uses several token types that allow players and content creators to use their assets in the game. Players can own the in-game currency called Sand too, and the land that players have in the game is unique to them and can be bought or sold.
The land is the most interesting element out of them all, as it’s used to insert games, assets, and other types of interactive experiences. Each piece of land is an NFT and does not belong to the owners of the game, since the player owns it.
So, think about Minecraft but everything that you build in it is owned by you and can be sold off for real-world money as if it’s land that you owned in a city.
It’s an amazing way of rewarding players for playing the game and also makes the Metaverse experience very immersive. And of course, grants newfound value to digital land that did not previously exist.
A couple of years ago, no one would have expected that real estate that exists digitally can provide profit in the real world. But in The Sandbox, over 166,464 lands exist and each of them can be owned by an individual player.
The Sand plays an important part of The Sandbox’s ecosystem too since it acts as an in-game currency that exists on the Binance trading platform and holds real-world monetary value. Inside the game, it can be used to buy equipment, customizable items for avatars, play user-created games, and purchase land.
Essentially, every single thing leads to the Marketplace and lets players make money through the NFT structure that everything is built on.
The Sandbox’s Success
The Sandbox has received a lot of success since its relaunch as an NFT-based game and according to the Co-Founder of the game, over 16,000 people buy virtual plots of land in this Metaverse.
And the Sand currency that is tied to the game is currently worth over $7.08 dollars and is believed to be owned by a total of 900,000 players.
Not only that, but the game is backed by companies such as Adidas, Atari, and even the internationally famous rapper Snoop Dogg.
With such strong backing and an ever-growing player-base, The Sandbox is on the path to achieving continued success and it’s one of the most trusted faces in the world of blockchain gaming.
So, if you wish to get into NFT gaming and experience how playing-to-earn works, The Sandbox is a great place to start. And if you have any experience with Minecraft or Roblox, you’ll even have a headstart.